Pretty
by lilmm
Summary: Quinn is far more than just her looks, but that's all anyone around her can see.


**So, I've been rewatching some of the past episodes, and it's really started to bug me how everyone keeps calling Quinn "pretty". Yes, she is, that's obvious. I don't understand why they keep harping about it. The worst part, though, is that no one goes any deeper than her looks, and I'm guessing a lot of Quinn's anger issues stem from there. I know some of my automatic mistrust of new people stems directly from so many of my relatives focusing on my Aryan Shirley Temple good looks as a child. I don't take people seriously on such matters anymore - especially when some of the first words out of their mouths happen to be some complement about my looks. It's probably part of why I'm usually such a quiet wallflower in RL.**

**Fortunately, there's hope in the future for Quinn.**

**Quinn will _thrive_ in college. She may apply to Yale for some kind of performance degree, but I can almost guarantee you her latent feminist leanings will earn her at least a minor in Women's and Gender Studies as well. And just being in that sort of collegiate environment... if she can stay away from the bad influences she will never have felt freer to be herself. Just thinking about it makes me miss my undergrad days.**

**This subject is obviously a sore spot for a lot of women and girls, and definitely deserves to be dealt with more delicately than I do in this little thought piece, but maybe one of you can leap off it in inspiration and try doing so yourselves. I'd love to hear about it if any of you do.**

**I don't own Glee.**

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><p>There were some days Lucy Quinn Fabray hated that she was pretty.<p>

In middle school, when she'd still been ugly, heavy, awkward Lucy Caboosey, she envied the pretty girls and hated herself all the more for not being one of them. In her thirteen year old mind, being pretty would solve all her problems: she'd have friends, respect, maybe even a boyfriend.

Although she knew better now, sometimes she still felt the way she had in middle school because for one glorious year in high school, she did manage to have it all, not because she allowed herself to think she'd worked for it – oh, had she worked for it – but because she was finally pretty.

For that one year in high school, Quinn reveled in the fact that she was pretty. Even though she was only a freshman she was at the top of her social hierarchy, and to prove it Coach Sylvester promoted her to the top of the pyramid months before anyone else, including Santana.

And then everything fell apart.

Being pretty was no longer enough. Her popularity fell away, her high status disappeared and she was left back where she started in unincorporated Fairbrook Township, only worse because unlike at Belleville everyone at McKinley knew her name.

She was mocked, pointed at like deposed royalty, sneered at for making a mistake and then, worst of all, ignored again and pushed aside in favor of less-pretty, more-talented girls.

Quinn felt betrayed.

All her life she'd been led to believe that being pretty was the ultimate goal, that if she managed to make herself pretty then everything she'd ever wanted would fall into place.

It was all a lie.

No one cared about her almost perfect grade point average, no one cared about her natural dancing ability, no one cared about her vocal talents.

No one cared about any of her accomplishments.

Anytime anyone wanted to complement her the first thing out of their mouth was some mention of how pretty she was. Half the time they didn't even bother to go beyond that, like being pretty was the only thing about her that mattered.

It infuriated her more than being pregnant had. At least back then people could point to her obvious mistake. Or purposely ignore her for it.

She seethed inside and felt worthless. She wanted to lash out in the most destructive way possible. People sucked and she wanted to make sure they knew how much they sucked.

How dare they stop at her looks? She could sing just as well as anyone else glee club, even if she didn't often fight for solos. She'd been the head cheerleader of the fucking Cheerios. Didn't that count for anything?

But no, it was always, "You're such a pretty girl, Quinn."

Was that really all she was? Pretty?

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><p><strong>Thoughts?<strong>


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